http://www.hyberian.com/
The hyberian website has now been re-engineered and re-named:
Hyberian Digital Image:
Visit hyberian today to see examples of Custom Digital Images.
The following post is from the ORIGINAL version of the hyberian website:
A fusion of cutting edge science and future related images.
Read some of the more recent features - Holographic Mind / Holographic Universe. This article gives insight into the holographic model, a useful metaphor attempting to describe an underlying consensus 'reality'.
A nanotechnology article has also been recently added. Reproduced from a document posted by the foresight institute, this is a good introduction to nanotechnology.
Also view futurist related web links - some of the most speculative sites on the web!
Example Article:
What is nanotechnology?
Nanotechnology is an anticipated manufacturing technology giving thorough, inexpensive control of the structure of matter. The term has sometimes been used to refer to any technique able to work at a sub micron scale; here it is used in the more usual sense of general control of the structure of matter on a nanometer scale--that is, a broad ability to control the arrangement of atoms. This ability will require development of devices termed assemblers. (A micron is a millionth of a meter; a nanometer is a billionth.)
What is an assembler?
An assembler will be a device having a submicroscopic robotic arm under computer control. It will work by applying reactive molecular tools to a work piece, building objects molecule by molecule. Assemblers will pop atoms into place with complete precision, enabling them to build virtually anything possible under natural law. With proper programming, materials, and so forth, assemblers will be able to build copies of themselves, that is, to replicate.
Will developing nanotechnology require new scientific discoveries?
The basic properties of atoms and molecules are already well understood, though routine research will be part of the development process. The existence of molecular machines in nature shows that machines at that scale are physically possible. No new fundamental science is needed; nanotechnology will be an engineering advance. This makes it foreseeable, unlike future scientific discoveries.
How will nanotechnology be applied?
Improving the ability to control matter has long been a major aim of technology. The consequences of assembler-based manufacturing will be enormous in areas as diverse as computation, medicine, and the environment.
How will nanotechnology change manufacturing?
Because they will be able to copy themselves, assemblers will be inexpensive. We can see this by recalling that many other products of molecular machines--firewood, hay, potatoes--cost very little. By working in large teams, assemblers and more specialized nanomachines will be able to build objects cheaply. By ensuring that each atom is properly placed, they will manufacture products of high quality and reliability. Left-over molecules would be subject to this strict control as well, making the manufacturing process extremely clean.
Even if assemblers put every molecule in place perfectly, won't they get out of place later, making nanomachines unreliable?
Radiation can break bonds and misarrange atoms within a device. Such defects can be dealt with in two ways: (1) by using designs in which when one part fails, another takes over; engineers call this redundancy, (2) by using repair devices left within the object to make molecular repairs when needed. Without such precautions, molecular machines would eventually break down and stop working.
How will nanotechnology be used in computation?
Assembler-based manufacturing will enable the construction of extremely small computers. The equivalent of a modern mainframe computer could fit into a cubic micron, a volume far smaller than that of a single human cell. Once such nanocomputers have been designed and the technology is in hand, building them will be inexpensive, enabling us to use many of them at once. A laptop computer could then have more power than all the computers in the world today put together.
